Flexural Properties of Thin Fly Ash Geopolymers at Elevated Temperature

This paper reports on the flexural properties of thin fly ash geopolymers exposed to elevated temperature. The thin fly ash geopolymers (dimension = 160 mm × 40 mm × 10 mm) were synthesised using 12M NaOH solution mixed with designed solids-to-liquids ratio of 1:2.5 and Na2SiO3/NaOH ratio of 1:4 and underwent heat treatment at different elevated temperature (300°C, 600°C, 900°C and 1150°C) after 28 days of curing. Flexural strength test was accessed to compare the flexural properties while X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis was performed to determine the phase transformation of thin geopolymers at elevated temperature. Results showed that application of heat treatment boosted the flexural properties of thin fly ash geopolymers as the flexural strength increased from 6.5 MPa (room temperature) to 16.2 MPa (1150°C). XRD results showed that the presence of crystalline phases of albite and nepheline contributed to the increment in flexural strength.